Royal Albert Dock Dry Dock being extended: 1913

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Royal Albert Dock Dry Dock being extended. In 1912 work started on enlarging the western dry dock of the Royal Albert Docks. John H Avery recorded the labourers excavating the dock on 26th July 1913. The moving figures give an indication of the length of exposure the camera needed. The spire visible on the left is of St Mark's, a 19th-century church built to commemorate a cholera epidemic that swept the district. The great volume of shipping in the Port of London supported an extensive ship-repair trade. Dry docks were in demand. Avery also photographed the S.S. Alaunia in 1914 in the western dry dock: the first ship to take advantage of the new development.